Corporate Citizenship Award

A new prize will be handed out by one of Lancashire’s leading business awards to recognise the contribution the county’s firms make to their communities.

The Be Inspired Business Awards, the BIBAs, has confirmed it is introducing an Excellence in Corporate Citizenship prize this year, supported by the Community Foundation for Lancashire.

It will recognise the achievements of businesses which go above and beyond to deliver benefits whether social, economic or environmental to communities outside of the business.

The BIBAs opens for applications on Tuesday, January 26, with 18 prizes up for grabs for firms from across Lancashire.

Karen Morris, of award sponsors the Community Foundation for Lancashire, said: “Through our work, we see individuals and businesses across Lancashire who do more than just contribute to the economy and secure jobs.

“There are businesses who are involved in initiatives which deliver environmental benefits, support enterprise among our young people or work to improve the community within which they are based.

“This type of corporate social responsibility is exactly what this new award from the BIBAs aims to celebrate and, hopefully by highlighting the real benefits which are delivered from this work, inspire others to do the same.”

Social enterprise Jobs Friends and Houses CIC, which works with ex-offenders, won its Most Inspiring Business of the Year prize and individual prizes went to Phil Lawson of Skelmersdale’s Virtue Technologies who won Entrepreneur of the Year and Louise Wilkinson, who runs Nelson-based Lomeshaye Village Day Nursery, who was named Business Woman of the Year